Partners
by Enide Dear
Summary: Rude's first meeting with his new partner goes fairly well. Apart from Reno being responsible for him being drugged and beaten up, of course.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Partners  
Author: Enide Dear  
Rating: some violence and slight nudity  
Pairing: Reno Rude not actually pairing them up  
Summary: Rude's first encounter with his new partner shows some promise.

A/N: There aren't enough fics from Rude's POV *sulk*

His hands were shaking. Rude stared at them for a second, before clenching the fist, hard, and layed it down on the dirty table next to his beer. He was slightly shocked to see that the situation could affect him this much, but there were no denying it. His shirt stuck to his body with cold sweat and his shades were itching enough that he just took them off, neatly folding them into his suit pocket. He didn't need them anyway; the bar was gloomy enough as it was.

Gloomy and bereft of red-heads. He took a new sip of his beer.

He'd been stood up by his new partner and there were no suprise in that. Reno was notoriously difficult to work with, obviously to the point of not bothering to show up when he was to meet his newly assinged partner for the first time. Rude wasn't really concerned about that.

What did concern him, however, was why he'd been assinged to Reno in the first place. He'd never met the guy, but rumors were abundant, incongruos and probably half made up anyway. Except on one point, were ShinRa records spoke clearly. All of Reno's prior partners had died, quick and violently. Not a strange way for a Turk to go but…All of them? Turks were nothing if not suspicous and paraniod. Working with Reno was a death sentence. And probably one sanctioned from higher up.

Rude's collar seemed to try and smother him. He pulled a finger along the rim of it, tried to get a proper breath down his longues.

What he couldn't understand was what he'd done wrong. Why had he been targeted for subtle elimination? He might not be the best Turk on the field, his evaluations said he was a bit too pending and too carefull, but he was the best with bombs, a great bodyguard and he'd never done anything, anything at all to endanger ShinRa buinsess.

Was the room supposed to tilt this way? He felt drunk, he suddenly realized, but that was impossible. He'd not even finished one beer.

*Not drunk then. Drugged. Shit.*

This was a bad part of Midgard to be vulnerable in, not that there wre many parts of Midgard that encouraged that state. Already darker shades were breaking loose from the gloom, slowly closing up on him. Trying to get up, his legs buckled and he fell forward, almost crashing faceforward onto the table. He managed to get up on his arms at just about time to get a heavy kick in the ribs that made him weeze with pain and fall over on his back.

"Get his money." Someone started to fumble around his pocket and Rude let them. They wanted his gils; fine, he could get more. But then a knife suddenly shone in the dark.

Rude kicked out; his boot conected with someones knee and they went down screaming. Drugged he might be, but he was a big man and the effects had yet to kick in as completely as he'd pretended they had. He could still control his actions, he hadn't passed out, those were the good things. The bad things were, he was seriously outnumbered and down on his back and there really were no way of getting out of this alive now he'd pissed them off.

Didn't mean he wasn't about to go down without a fight, though.

He caught another boot aimed at his head and twisted the ankle with savage strength born from depseration, but there were already someone else tampling his chest, ribs were cracking, about to break, a new knife was coming down, eyes and teeth glittered like monsters in the dark…

Sudden, explosive light. The crackle of electricity and one opponent down, shaking as if he'd touched a live wire. Another turned to get a faceful of metal rod, a third one screamed something about Turks and then they were running, leaving Rude on the floor, coughing and bleeding.

A red head came into view, EMR boncing on his shoulder.

"You alright there, partner?" Rude tried to answer, but there was way beyond coherent thoguth and speak by now as the drugges started to really kick in. His tongue felt thick as a board and his head seemed to be floating half a foot above his shoulders.

Reno watched him a moment, eyes unreadable, then shoved sinewy arm under his shoulder and dragged. He was a lot stronger than he looked, even as Rude tried to help as much as he could.

"You weigh a ton," Reno grunted the complaint as he hoisted him up. "What are you? A fucking Soldier reject?"

"I…"

"Shut up. Open your mouth." Rude gagged as long fingers were suddenly shoved mercilessly down his throat; he tried to fight them off but to no avail. "Oh, bad gag reflex you got there, big guy." Reno grinned at his thrashings, "I fancy you already. But right now we need to get that drug out of your system, yo." He pushed in another finger, deeper and this time the reflex kicked in and Rude had to toss his face to the side as he threw up on the bar floor. Reno wiped his hand on his shirt, unconcerned. "Good. C'm on."

Rude did feel a bit better as he was half carried, half dragged along the empty streets, up a nondescript stair and into a dirty appartment were he was dumped on a suprisingly comfortable couch. Good enough that he could hold the glass himself as Reno gave him tap water and drink it without throwing up again, even though his throat hurt like hell.

"Drink as much as you can. Will help you clear out your system."

He mamaged two more glasses and then darkness crept into the edges of his vision and he passed out in exhaustion.

A few hours later he woke up, his head on a lap and a hand stroking his pate absentmindedly. A TV was on, although the channels flipped by so fast they made his head hurt and he could smell a cigarett.

"Awake? Good. How you feelin'?" It was Reno's lap his head was resting on, bony and warm. Blue eyes sparkled down at him over the cig.

"Like shit." Rude managed. "Water?"

"Here you go." He was handed another glass of tap water, this time luke warm. He drank it down.

"Bathroom?" It was damn comfortable just laying here but other needs were pressing.

"Over there." Reno pointed, then returned to his channel surfing. "Take a shower when you're at it. You stink."

The shower was full of hair care products; a funny detail as the rest of the appartment was a mess, down to and including the filty clothes strewn everywhere. Rude ignored those but relaxed as hot water streamed over him. *What a fucking miserable way to make a first impression on a new partner.*

He found a semi-clean towel and used to dry off as he walked back into the living room. Reno gave his naked body a queary glance and grinned.

"No decendy whatsovever? Knew I'd like you." He waved at a coffe mug on the table. "Got coffee. That would wake you up."

Rude managed a weak smile as he kept toweling down.

"What, no breakfast?"

"What am I, your fucking butler?" Reno grinned. "Anyway, got this rule that anyone whose life I save have to buy me breakfast in the morning."

"Yeah, sorry about that…" Rude sweapt the towel around his waist and took the cup. He felt awkward to say the least.

"Don't be." Reno shrugged. "Ain't noone can be on edge all the time. Everyone slips from time to time. The question is what you do about it when that happens. That's why I've been looking for a new partner."

"You've been looking…" Rude felt off balance.

"Yeah. Requested you especially. Tseng fucking owes me anyway."

"All your partners end up dead." He'd never been much for beating around the bush. "They say you are the Turk executioner."

Reno glared.

"Shouldn't believe all the shit you hear. Ain't my fault those loosers Tseng sent me couldn't take the heat. I'm a Turk not a fucking babysitter."

"Why me?"

"Thought it might work. You're tougher than you looks and that's saying something." Reno slumped a bit in the couch, not looking at him. "Truth to say, I'm fucking lonely. Even the other Turks avoid me like I've got the fucking plague or something!"

Rude sat quiet for a while. The coffee was harsh against his raw throat and his body was aching from multiple bruises. His clothes were still on the floor, dirty and sweaty but it wasn't as if he could borrow Reno's - not only were they too small, but they were almost as disgusting.

"You drugged me last night." It wasn't a question.

"Had to see if you could handle yourself. Ain't loosing another partner when things get serious." Reno shrugged. "Anyway I fucking helped you, didn't I?"

"Do you use the word 'fuck' in ever other sentence?"

"Fuck you! So how you feeling about it?"

Rude sighed and rubbed his face.

"I feel like I should drag you out into the bathroom, dunk you in the toilet until the bubbles stop and then drag your sorry soaked ass out of here for breakfast."

Reno shone up.

"See? Told you it would fucking work."


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Partners II  
Author: Enide Dear  
Pairing: RenoxRude  
Rating: violence  
Summary: continuation on Partners (d'oh!) .com/gallery/#/d2ri3vw  
A/N: Before anyone says anything, no, I'm not pro drug use. Just as I'm not pro murder, traffic offences, torture or abuse. They're Turks. Get over it.  
Song 'She's my man' by Scissor Sisters

This town was built on muddy stilts  
By the lunatic parade  
It rains like Revelations  
Gonna wash these freaks away  
Some girls wanna hold your hand  
And some girls like to pray  
Well my girl takes her drinks  
With dust and rusty razor blades

They had to run back to ShinRa to make it on time; for someone who smoked so much Reno had surprisingly good stamina but Rude worked out five times a week. He kept up.

The reception hall at th Tower was full of zombielike desk-workers shuffling around, as well as the perky, smiling bored-out-of-their-wits receptionists.

"Hey, look at that." Rude pointed at the big pond the president had installed in the middle of the hall. Tranquil koi swam around, red and white and golden, beneath waterplants.

"What?" Reno peered down, his red hair falling over scrawny shoulders.

Rude caught the pony tail in a quick grip and heaved. With a squeak Reno fell forwards, face first into the koi pond, thrashing and kicking uselessly as Rude help him down. Colourful fish and dull ShinRa employees, both with equally gaping mouths, scattered even as Rude pulled his spitting and cursing partner up.

"This ain't a fucking toilet, you lying son of a bi -" Reno's outraged shout was quickly cut off as he was dunked back into the pond.

When Rude finally pulled him up, Reno was half drenched with water running out of his mouth and nose as Rude carefully placed him on a bench. Reno coughed up some algae, sneezed out water and glared.

"If you ruined my hair," he rasped, "I'm gonna fucking kill you."

"Your hair is fine." Rude smiled. "And anyway I helped you up, didn't I?"

Reno stared. Then he burst out laughing. Before Rude could react, the red-head grabbed his tie and pulled him in. The kiss was hot, lips crushing together with recklessly abandon and it tasted like beer and aquarium.

"You are a sick bastard, partner." Reno grinned wickedly as he let Rude up to breathe. "Now move your ass or Tseng's gonna eat us alive."

Tseng didn't bother to mention that the two Turks - now partners - that entered his office looked rather strange; one in dirty clothes that smelled of puke with his arm wet up to the elbow and the other sopping wet from his forehead and down. Gods knew, he'd seen Turks look a lot worse.

"Your mission starts in half an hour. You'll be guarding the Director of the Weapons Department on a meeting with arms suppliers. Check out new suits and be ready."

"Yes, sir."

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

Tseng glared at Reno but didn't say anything; the cold eyes were enough to shut the Turk up. Rude nodded back as they left the office.

"Creepy man."

"Tseng? Yeah, don't piss him off. That guy's so cold I swear he'd survive a fight with Sephiroth."

The Turk's showers were a brightly lit room with no closets, lockers or even separated shower cubicles, because Tseng had long since realized how much time it saved if not every Turk had to sooth their paranoia by checking out all dark corners before undressing.

Reno threw off his wet old clothes in an untidy pile and dumped the new ones on a bench before sauntering untroubled over to a shower head, punching it on and sticking his head under it. Green algae and old fish food ran down the drain.

Rude tossed his ruined suit in the cloth bag put in the room for that use – Turks went through suits *fast* - and neatly hung up his new one before joining him.

Reno was eyeing him, the way he had in his apartment, but Rude tried to ignore him. From the corner of his eye he could see the red-head lathering up, making a show out of it – and a damn good show, to, clever hands roaming all over his long limbs – but he didn't let it get to him.

Or tried not to let it get to him.

Reno, however, was not about to take silence for an answer. Very, very deliberately, he dropped the soap.

"Aw, look at that." His eyes never left Rude's. "I better pick that up." He bent over, presenting long legs and a sweet ass, and Rude moved.

Reno made a harsh, wanting sound as Rude pressed him up against the cold shower wall, pressing back against the stronger body as much as he could, undulating in a way that went straight to Rude's libido. He pushed the long legs aside with a knee, bit into Reno's neck and…

Stepped back. Reno almost stumbled to his ass as the pressure was removed.

"What the fuck?" He yelled as Rude, with more willpower than he honestly thought he had, stepped out of the shower. "Get your ass back here!"

"No." Rude dried off and started to put on his shirt.

"What? Why?" Dripping wet and pissed, Reno glared at him, his own towel in hand.

"Because," Rude calmly adjusted his tie. "That was another of your 'tests' wasn't it? To see if I can keep my mind on the work." He threw a glance at the watch. "We have five minutes. Not enough."

A quick *snapp* and Rude almost yelped; Reno had slapped him across his bare ass with the wet towel.

"Just 'cause this might fuckin work, don't mean you get away with it." Reno grumbled, but winked approval as he started to carelessly throw on his own suit.

Rude smiled.

Rude never even got a glimpts of the director they were supposed to be guarding before the two Turks were assigned to perimeter watch of the new facility.  
It was fucking cold outside and both Turks shivered; Reno was too lanky to have any natural protection from the weather and Rude was used to warmer climes. Lighting a joint Rude passed it to the red-head, who shook his head and shoved his hands deeper in his pockets.

"Tseng says he'll shove a pair of Palmer's old undies down my throat and slap duct tape on my mouth if he finds me high on work again." He muttered crankily. "That guy don't make empty threats."

"He's a scary one." Rude agreed, sucking deep on the sweet stick. "I could give you a shot gun." He tested.

Reno glanced up at him, and for a second Rude thought the red-head would ask him what it was, and how did you explain that without making it sound like the obvious scam it was?

But of course Reno knew. He grinned, that sly, smooth smirk that made Rude's heart lurch.

"Sure."

Pulling deep, letting the smoke filter through his lounges where it, theoretically, would loose most of its potency, Rude leaned forward towards Reno's open mouth and blew the smoke in, lips nudging one another gently. Their second kiss was cloying sweet and sticky, warmth that went to their heads.

"Wohaaa…" Reno breathed deep. "That one went straight to my head."

"Yeah." Rude's legs felt a bit wobbly to, and he didn't know if it was the pot or the kiss. He threw the thing away. Better not take any chances.

A frantic static on their phones and then a voice shouted:

"Sirs! A…kidnapping! They took the director! Green car, heading west!"

Reno and Rude exploded into motion.

The closest vehicle - and there weren't many vehicles in Midgard these days - was an old garbage truck. Throwing out the man working it, they clambered on board.

"You'd better buckle up, partner." Rude twisted the key and the engine roared to life.

"Buckle this," Reno snarled and flipped him off, but was thrown back in the seat as Rude slammed the pedal to the floor and the truck took a huge leap forward.

People screamed and ran for their lives as they tore down the street, pushing cars and even other trucks aside. The garbage truck was slow and cumbersome but it was also heavy and once it gained momentum it really was only one thing – an armoured truck. Pieces of smaller cars flew in the air as Rude pushed it forward, spinning the wheel to take an impossible curve and meeting the fleeing car just as it was coming out a side road.

The garbage truck slammed into the shot gun side of the car with a heavy thump, screetching metal being torn to shreds as the vehicle was mangled by the truck, tossing it across the street where it crashed against a warehouse.

"Yeah! Yippie kay-ey, mother fuckers!" Reno had slammed his face against the dashboard as the collision made the truck halt, and now blood from his split lip was staining his teeth and chin in a ghoulish grin, but he was out the door before Rude had even stopped the car, running for the perpetrators.

Before then, Rude hadn't known just why Reno was considered one of the best Turks, but in that one headlong attack he did. Reno was *freakingly* fast and lithe, almost as if he'd been mako enhanced and he showed no sings of stopping even as bullets started whistling around him. Reno twisted as if he had the spine of a cat and the bullets went wide as he rushed madly, insanely, *towards* the kidnappers. *He is insane!* Rude was still tearing at his seatbelt and the thought had no little admiration in it.

But most of all Reno was clever. And he didn't' fight fair.

The two goons crawling out of the sorry remains of the car seemed to be built like the garbage truck - heavy slabs of raw muscles, the kind of body that you'd have to carve at for twenty minutes with a knife before hitting anything interesting, with no necks and fists made up by scartissue and broken knuckles.

Their eyes were still jello, though.

Reno lounged, the tip of his EMR slipping straight into the nearest man's eye socket and before the goon could even howl in pain, Reno flicked on the EMR's pulse. The explosion sent soft tissue and hard pieces of cranium flying, splattering walls, car wrech and Turk. *Clever.* Rude was free of the belt now and kicking open the door. *Might even work on a Solider.* Except, of course, that no Solider would ever stand still for the fraction of a second that Reno would require for this stunt.

Rude expected the other goon to attack, or possibly try and run. It was the only realistic choices left to him, after all. Reno must have expected the same.

None of them were prepared when the piece of shit brought out a gun.

Reno threw himself aside even as the gun boomed in the alley, but fast as he was, he wasn't faster than a bullet. A red mist exploded from his body and the red-head howled in pain and fury, rolling over the asphalt to keep from being a still - and dead - target.

Something went black in Rude's head. He lounged, roaring.

He felt the wind from a stray bullet close by his ear but it didn't stop him; he tore into the kidnapper with all the bulk and weight of a bar brawler, but unlike them Rude *knew* how to use his strength and weight. The kidnapper went down, gun flying from his hand and meaty fists pounding desperately and with too little leverage to be a threat into the dark Turk who ignored the punches, let them hit him as he rolled with the man, and managed to get him down, between Rude and the asphalt.  
And then he started pummelling him. Gloved fists quickly became messy with blood as Rude hit and hit and hit again, filled with a rage he hadn't felt before, determined to get rid of a threat that had somehow his too close to heart, and if Reno was dead, then Gods help him, he'd continue to hit this man until he was nothing but a greasy stain on the sidewalk…

"Rude! Rude, fuck it, stop!" Someone grabbed his arm, trying to make him stop hitting. The man underneath him was not moving.

Almost a bit confused, Rude looked up to meet sarcastically amused and slightly impressed blue eyes.

"We're not Soldiers," Reno said, lighting a cig. "We leave our enemies fucking alive." He tossed the match away, pulling deep. "Otherwise Tseng's gonna be angry as hell for not having anyone to question."

Right. Right. Reno was right. You couldn't question a corpse. Staggering a bit, Rude got up, looking down on his smaller partner who looked as much alive as he had five minutes ago.

"You alright?"

Reno grinned.

"Aw, worried, yo? Yeah, I'm fine. Just grazed my shin. Got worse scrapes on my knees, rolling around in the shit like that." There was a flicker of…something…in his eyes as he glanced up at Rude. "It's not good, getting all fucking emotional like that, yo. Ain't the way of Turks. Gonna have to do something about that."

"I…" For a second, the fear he'd felt last night came rushing back to Rude. *He's gonna kill me.*

Then Reno grabbed his tie, again, pulled his head down and crushed heir lips together. Reno tasted of blood from his split lip, blood and sweet smoke and still a bit of koi pond, and it all went straight to Rude's head. With a sound that was almost a growl, he pushed Reno around, pushing the pliant body up against the wrecked car, grinding against him, not caring who was looking or what was happening as long as he…

The cell phone in Reno's pocked started chirping. With an impressive amount of will power and enough swearing to set a building on fire, Reno pushed him back and got up the phone.

"Tseng? Yeah we stopped the fucking car. Yeah, we took them out. The executive? Uh, Rude's checking on 'im now." Waving his hand frantically, Reno signalled to Rude to move his as over and open the trunk. Distracted, Rude snapped it open just as Reno shouted, "Rude! Watch out!"

He had time to snap his head back enough to save his eye as a stiletto heel - with extreme emphasis on 'stiletto' - tore through the air and sliced his cheek open to the bone.

"Damn Turks!" A very un-ladylike voice screeched and Rude had to steady himself as a heavily make-uped woman underneath a huge pile of peroxide-hair and wearing a red gown that seemed several sizes too small for her huge boobs started climbing out, using him as a ladder and swearing all the way. "Reno, you miserable excuse for a rat! Is this what you call a rescue?" She yelled at him, ignoring not only the fact that the red-head was bleeding all over his face and the leg of his trousers was being soaked through with blood, but also that she had almost gouged Rude's eye out. "Tseng will hear of this, you piece of shit!"

"Fuck off, Scarlett." Reno stuck out his tongue at her, making her bristle even worse. "Tseng's on his way with a fucking car for you."

Snorting, Scarlett continued to inspect her dress, swearing and promising revenge for every cut, bruise and ripped piece of fabric she could find. Finally, two cars drove up, one limo and one regular. Tseng hurried out of the limo and the regular car let out a blonde Turk woman Rude had yet to meet. They helped the director into the limo carefully while Reno and Rude helped dump the still breathing kidnapper in the trunk along with any bigger pieces they could find of the dead one.

"Good work." Tseng tossed them a pair of Potions and the car keys. "Take the evening off. Report to me first thing in the morning." Then they drove off, leaving the two Turks with a mess of crashed cars and pieced of a dead body splattered all over the surroundings.

"Gods damned damsels in distress, huh?" Reno flipped off the car once he was certain Tseng couldn't see them any more. "Should have just let her be kidnapped."

"I'll drink to that." They clinked their potions together and downed the foul liquid; Rude felt his cheek closing up and Reno's lip and leg started running. "We need an other shower."

"And food. I'm hungry as Hell." Reno snitched the car keys from his hand. "I'll drive."

"Why?" Rude frowned.

"You'll see once we get a few hundred meters."

They actually made it halfway back to Rude's apartment before he came crashing down from his adrenaline high. Shaking with cold and dread he clung to himself as Reno eased the car through Midgard rush hours. As soon as he saw the cold sweat beading on Rude's forehead and heard the short, hectic breathing, Reno immediately pulled over into a dirty alley and killed the engine, scrambling up on his lap.

"It's alright, it's fucking fine," Rude couldn't help but cling to the much smaller body, smaller but more experienced, more jaded, than him. Reno let him, melted into him and stroked his bald head. "Happens to everyone once in a while. You've just done small jobs before, right? Well, welcome to the big fucking league of Turks."

Rude had never come this close to, well, to *insanity* as this day. He'd almost been killed. Reno had almost been killed. He'd almost killed someone.

It was the rush of a lifetime. And Reno thought he was having a mental breakdown.

He started laughing, a small, coughing, wheezing laugh. He wasn't breaking down. If anything he felt like he was being put back together with pieces he hadn't known before was missing.

"Yo, you alright?" Reno gave him a worried look. "You're kind a freaking me out, yo. Look, if you can't fucking take it, just say so. Ain't everyone who can deal with shit like this…"

"I wanna do it all over again. Tomorrow." His voice was oddly coarse, as if he was aroused or something. "With fucking bombs!"

Reno just stared. Then he burst out laughing to, high and warm and happy as a kid with a new friend to show the world.

"I knew this would fucking work!"

They stopped by a small place in the slums that Reno knew and picked up greasy pieces of fried pork and fries that tasted better than anything Rude had ever tasted, still soaring high on his victory trip and then drove back to Rude's place.

The apartment was small, but in much better shape than Reno's, except for one table in the middle of the room that was filled to the brim with mechanical gadgets, explosives and plastics. Reno peered sharply at it, munching spicy meat and wiping his fingers on his jacket.

"And people call me fucking crazy." He sniffed. "At least I don't keep instable fucking explosives in my apartment, yo."

"Really? So what happened to your apartment was done on purpose then?"

"Ha - fucking - ha. I'm taking a shower." He did, swearing wildly over the lack of shampoo, something Rude had no use for. Rude waited for him on the couch, still a bit weak limbed from his experiences.

When the red-head came back, drying his hair on a clean towel and mumbling something about tangles, Rude was ready to ask.

"Reno?"

"Yeah?" Blue eyes looked up, met his and smiled.

"Why? Why me?" He couldn't help but ask. Reno was, well, everything a Turk should be. He was fast, he was clever, he was lethal and cruel and beautiful. Rude was just…Rude.

"'Cause I like you, big guy." Reno grinned and tossed away the towel. It landed over a potted plant. "You ain't afraid of me, you ain't afraid of anything the Turks can throw at you, yo." Naked, damp and oh so smooth, Reno scrambled up in the couch, once more up into Rude's lap. Clever hand started to remove his tie and Rude let him. There would be nothing stopping them this time.

"Other Turks think I'm too stiff, to uptight." He mumbled against red hair.

"Fuck them." Reno's hand went down his pants, his voice hoarse. "Maybe I like my guys *stiff* and *tight*."

Oh yeah, Rude's last coherent thought was. This would fucking work.

Someday soon, this dank lagoon's  
Gonna sink right into hell  
They'll hide you from Big Ida  
At the Sho' Enough Hotel  
The Ladies of the evening's just  
A tombstone in your bed  
Well my girl eats a wounded preacher  
'tween two loaves of bread


	3. Chapter 3

Title: ShinRa Turks  
Author: Enide Dear  
Pairing: Implied RenoxRude  
Rating: VIOLENCE! Turks being Turks. Dark fic.  
A/N: This is for :iconYllet: who got me thinking about what Rude does on his spare time and :iconten-tacles: who encourage me to more dark fics. And you don't want to know how long I've thought about where to fit the urinal scene in a fic…yes, I'm weird, now piss off!  
Also inspired by this pic: .com/gallery/#/dvwujb

"Yo." Reno sighed, watching the cig smoke he exhaled slowly rise towards the ceiling. "You guys done yet or what?"

"Not yet." Rude's voice echoed a bit, coming from underneath the street race car he was adjusting. A pair of jeans clad legs and the ragged end of a dirty t-shirt could be seen underneath it and the sound of bolts being twisted could be heard. As much fun as it was to see Rude out of uniform, it had lost its news appeal hours ago, along with the fun of rifling through old porn magazines and ogling the pin-up girls that plastered the walls of this illegal workshop.

Reno sighed again and lay down on the oilstained bench he'd been sitting on, exhaling more smoke in a billowing cloud.

"This is fucking boring." He complained.

"You want something to do? Go get us some beers." Rude's cousin appeared from the other side of the car. Like Rude he was a big man, not as neat as his cousin but almost half as big and scarred from numerous dirty back alley fights. He owned the workshop and was known in Midgard's underworld to provide the best vehicles for illegal street races. In a way, he owned the part of Midgard that had anything to do with cars. Rude loved to come here on his spare time to help out.

"Fuck off." Reno flipped him off. "I ain't your bitch, yo. Get your own beer."

The cousin bristled, big knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists, staring at the re-head who was barely half his size and with the body build of a half-starved street-rat.

"Yeah, that's right." The cousin sneered. "From what I've heard, you're Rude's bitch."

Reno sat up, eyes glowing and EMR tapping threatingly against his shoulder.

"Wanna come over here and say that again, yo?" He asked with lethal sweetness.

"Back off." Rude's voice came from under the car as he rolled out on the trolley. "You're in way over your head." His shaded face appeared, a red bandana covering his bald head to keep it from getting too stained with oil.

The cousin grinned, tossing him an oilcloth to wipe his hands on.

"Don't worry, I ain't gonna hurt your little bitch. He just needs to learn who's in charge here."

"Wasn't talking to Reno." Rude meticulously cleaned his fingers.

The cousin startled, his twang of insecurity not lessened by the red-head smiling at him like a demented fox. But then he pulled himself up.

"What are you saying? That you'd be on his side in a fight?" His voice was laden with dark amusement.

"I ain't needing Rude's help to take down a fucker like you." Reno lazily twirled the EMR. Rude only shrugged. The cousin crossed his arms, looking unimpressed and ignoring Reno.

"I know you say that the Turks are all that, but I ain't buying it. When the shit hits the fan, family comes first. That's just the way it is. And that goes for you to, Rude."

Rude snorted gently and Reno just laughed evilly.

"Be glad Tseng knows that ain't true, or you'd be so much dead meat in the river, man. The Turks *always* comes first, or else we cut them loose. No family, no conflict."

"Sure, you Turks talk so bad ass. I still say you're a little ShinRa bitch. And if the pay wasn't so good, Rude would be here, being *my*partner." The cousin threw a towel at Reno who ducked it, never taking his shining eyes of the bigger man. "I'm going to take a piss. Go get us those beer."

The urinal in the shitter was just one long steel trench and it was clogged. He used it anyway, making a mental note to get someone to fix it when the door opened and the red-head stepped in, his lazy sway making his moves somehow predatory.

"What?" The cousin frowned. "Can't wait to suck dick, can you? Well, I don't swing that way so piss off…"

Reno touched the side of the trench with his sparkling EMR.

The cousin screamed in pure pain as the electromagnetic pulse transferred through the steel and up his dick and he fell forward. Something hit the back of his knees, felling him over even more and then a hard rod slammed down over his neck, slamming his forehead into the urinal. Pain coursed through him in too many places, there were no thought left to fight, only scream, as a harsh grip on the back of his head pushed him into the piss-through.

"You know of Cid Highwind, yo?" Reno grunted, holding the thrashing man down and pulling him up, spitting and chocking and stinking.

"Wha…"

"Wrong answer, yo!" Reno pushed him back down, holding him in the clogged drain and screaming in his ear. "I said, you know 'bout Cid Higwind, you shit?"

"Yeah, yeah!" The cousin was pulled up, half drowned and vomiting, panic in his eyes. "I know of him! Everyone knows of him! He's the fucking genius who designed the new ShinRa airship! He's like a fucking hero to mechanics!"

"Don't know 'bout that." Reno's eyes shone with demented sadism. "But I *know* the fucker owes me one. I can get him to give me one of those new after burn chambers of his. You know of it? Good. And I can give it to you, yo, and your fucking cars will win every street race there is. You got me? I can do that for you…or I can just drown you in your own piss." Reno leaned forward even as the cousin tried to scramble away, terror making him piss his own pants. "Pain or profit, huh? That's a Turk deal. What's it gonna be?"

"P…profit?" His voice wavered and cracked.

"Good boy." Reno patted his cheek, mindless of the mess running down it."See, you're Rude's cousin and I know my partner likes it here. That's why I'm so fucking nice to you. 'Cause I want us to get along. I want us to be best fucking buddies, you get that? So no more calling me a bitch. And no more making Rude upset. Deal?"

"Deal. Yeah. Sure. Anything! I'm sorry, man!"

"Whatever. I'll have the parts for you by next week." Rising up, Reno sauntered over to the hand-basin and started to wash himself off, ignoring the man shivering on the floor as he fiddled a bit with his hair, for all the world like a man who'd just taken a piss and not beaten some poor sucker into submission.

And then the cousin realized that someone was standing by the door, someone who'd seen the whole thing and hadn't lifted a finger to stop it.

Rude threw him a clean towel and nodded at the trench.

"You should get that fixed, cousin. I'll see you next weekend." Putting an arm around his partner, the two Turks walked out the door.


End file.
